Whaley/Democrat photo
Nashua South celebrates its Unified Basketball championship in the background as Spaulding’s Ashley Harriman (13) and Dylan Cunningham (22) walk off the court Saturday in Manchester.

Disappointment was etched across Casey Craig and Dylan Cunningham‘s faces as they walked off the Southern New Hampshire University basketball court on Saturday.

The Spaulding High School Unified Basketball team had just lost in the state final to Nashua South, 39-37, in a game where Spaulding had a final possession with 2.1 seconds to either tie or win the game.

As Craig, Cunningham and their teammates slowly moved to their team bench, the South players were celebrating on the floor.

Eventually the disappointment melted away and Craig and Cunningham talked about their roles as unified partners on the Spaulding team, which is a mixture of developmentally disabled athletes and regular high school students, or partners, like Craig and Cunningham.

The unified sports concept is in its second year, a cooperative effort between the New Hampshire Interscholastic Athletic Association and Special Olympics New Hampshire (NHIAA) in the sports of basketball, soccer and outdoor track and field.

“It’s pretty good playing with these guys,” said Cunningham , a freshman. “They get excited when we win and have fun. That’s why we come out here: to have fun.”

“I love playing with them,” Craig added, a sophomore. “It’s always a blast. They have so much fun doing it. It’s always a good time.”

The two are clearly vested teammates in a sport where the goal is to mesh the abilities of the athletes with those of the partners to create a competitive atmosphere. The partners’ emphasis is setting up the athletes to score with the partners’ role to maintain a flow to the game by playing defense and, rebounding, and sometimes getting the ball up and down the floor, like a regular game.

“All we like to do is pass the ball and get them to score,” Cunningham said. “That’s really it.”

It’s not always easy because the partners have to learn to play with restraint.

“I do not envy a unified partner,” said unified coach Dan Curran. “You are walking a fine line between the athletes on your team and knowing your own ability level.”

Curran said there are times when the partners hold back and the athletes are aware of it and let them know they need to play harder to help the team.

“Players on your team are aware of the things that you can do,” Curran said. “But at the same time you don’t want to be the kid who goes to a game and have people in the stands say ‘that kid wasn’t good enough to make his varsity team, so he’s going to come out and beat up on Special Ed athletes.’”

Craig and Cunningham get it. Neither one took a shot in Saturday’s championship, concentrating on playing defense, rebounding and getting the ball to their teammates for offensive opportunities.

Curran said their team philosophy is for the partners to play at the same level as that of the opposition’s partners.

“We kind of take the approach if our partners can balance out their partners then what it comes down to is the contributions of the athletes,” Curran said.

Cunningham has been a partner for several years. He has a brother with a disability and that’s how he got involved.

“I wanted to get involved and help out some more,” he said. “It‘s like a sport to me. I enjoy it.”

Craig found out about the team through Cunningham (they both play football in the fall), researched it and decided it was something he wanted to be a part of.

“I’ve definitely grown through the relationships and have learned respect,” Craig said. “I love giving back. I like seeing kids always having fun. I don’t want them to be on the short end of it. It’s certainly exceeded my expectations. I thought I would go out there and shoot around and give them the ball and stuff. It’s more than that. It’s like an actual team. We’ve bonded and have a good time.”

“It’s really important for the kids who can’t play regular sports,” Cunningham added. “This is their sport. They get to play and that’s awesome.”

Although Spaulding lost the championship game by two points, Casey Craig and Dylan Cunningham walked off the court as winners.

Mike Whaley is the Sports Editor for Foster’s Daily Democrat and the Rochester Times. He can be reached at mwhaley@fosters.com.